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Occam’s Razor and Good Ole Boys

In discussing this inexcusable and heinous act with someone from the opposite side of the political fence, he brought up Occam’s Razor. He said, “This just doesn’t make sense. If the two white men really executed this innocent black man, they would be brought to justice. There must be something the media is not telling us. What is missing?”

He does not understand Occam’s Razor. Occam’s Razor (or Ockham’s Razor, also known as the Principle of Parsimony) is the idea that more straightforward explanations are, in general, better. That is, if you have two possible theories that fit all available evidence, the best theory is the one with fewer moving parts.

Occam’s Razor has nothing to do with missing information. It says the simplest explanation is the most likely. And the simplest explanation is this:

There were two racist and fearful white men (one who was former law enforcement) who chased a black jogger in their truck and executed him when he would not stop.

The simplest explanation as to why these men have yet to be charged? They are heavily connected with the criminal justice network in this small Georgia town, and are benefiting from these connections.

I have heard people (I use the term lightly) ask why the man didn’t stop? Why he didn’t stop and obey two white men with NO AUTHORITY rather than try and run around the truck that had passed him and blocked his way. Why he didn’t kneel and beg for his life rather than grab the shot gun that was pointed at him.

WHAT THE LITERAL FUCK.

No. Just no. If two men chase me down with a gun and block my path as I’m walking ANY violence that results is 100 percent their fault. Questioning the behavior of the executed man is victim blaming to the infinite power and is unacceptable.

The simple answer? The explanation with the fewest moving parts? Two good ole boys didn’t like a black man (and I’m guessing that the descriptor THEY would use starts with an N) jogging through their lilly white hood. They probably thought they would scare him, and it ended up going far worse than that.

Racism is alive and well in the world. Especially in small, southern, US towns. That is the simple answer.

We cannot change what we refuse to acknowledge. Every single time we try to justify this type of act, we are sentencing another innocent person of color to death.